


To Hear It

by daydreamer1227



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Family, Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-12 19:49:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28890906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daydreamer1227/pseuds/daydreamer1227
Summary: Harry was at Grimmauld Place and was feeling incredibly fond of everyone there. The dinner passed with laughter and joy, until Fred said something that Harry didn't know how to respond to. How should he? Nobody had ever said that to him before.
Relationships: Harry Potter & The Weasleys, Remus Lupin & Harry Potter, Sirius Black & Harry Potter
Comments: 4
Kudos: 76





	To Hear It

“Come on, everyone!” shouted Mrs. Weasley from the kitchen. “Time for dinner–” There were two small explosions in succession before Mrs. Weasley screamed, “Fred! George! What have I told you a hundred times–"

“God rest ye merry hippogriffs,” bellowed Sirius in his loud, baritone voice.

“Ron!” Ginny was yelling. “Your owl stole my quill!”

“Oh, no you don’t! Fred, George, get back here _this instant_!”

“Mum, there’s a pixie in the bathroom again!” shouted Ron from upstairs.

“Constant vigilance, Weasley!”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake, Mad-Eye,” said Tonks.

“Let nothing you dismay,” Sirius continued. “Remember… something, something, I don’t know the words!”

“Sirius,” groaned Remus as he came down the stairs, “if you don’t know the words, _why_ are you singing?”

There was a loud _crash_ and a “Tonks!” followed quickly by a flustered “Sorry, Molly.”

“Hermione,” called Ron, “Can you help me get rid of this pix–GAH! Blimey, Fred, George, I told you not to DO that!”

“We can handle this, Ickle-Ronniekins!”

“ _Ron_! Your owl!”

“Mundungus, what on _Earth_ are you bringing into this house!”

Harry smiled to himself at the ruckus of Grimmauld Place. Mr. Weasley was alive, Sirius was in a good mood, and it was almost Christmas. He was incredibly fond of all of them, everyone in the house. By the time they all settled down at the table to eat, Mrs. Weasley had to use a charm to reheat the food.

For the first time in a long while, Harry felt content. He ate a fair helping of everything offered, and a double helping of Treacle Tart. It was nice to forget about things and simply _be_. He wasn’t dwelling on Umbridge–though he was sure that his hand was wrapped inconspicuously–he was trying his best not to dwell on Voldemort, and he was just thankful that Mr. Weasley was all right.

“The prat sought us out–with no provocation whatsoever–and began shooting curses at us!” George was saying.

“Well,” Fred corrected, “maybe a little provocation.”

“Well,” said George, “to be completely honest, we may have started it.”

“But still, he came at us with his wand."

“So, we stunned him.”

“But then we saw students running around the corner,” said Fred.

“They all looked scared, and as they ran by, we heard one of them say something about Umbridge,” said George solemnly.

Harry’s grip tightened around the fork in his hand reflexively.

“So, to hide, we went into this room with a ‘keep out’ sign on it."

“You what?” snapped Mrs. Weasley.

Ron snorted.

George waved his mother’s concern away. “The sign was just a suggestion, Mum.”

Harry smiled.

“And guess what we found in there?” asked Fred excitedly.

“What?” asked Tonks, caught up in the story.

“It was the room Filch had been storing all the things that he confiscates from students!” said George in barely concealed glee.

“Obviously, there were many interesting things in that room, so we decided to–"

“Boys!”

As if just realizing that their mother was in the room, Fred quickly altered what he had been about to say. “–to leave everything right where it was,” he finished lamely.

There was laughter and butterbeer, and as the night wore on, Harry grew drowsy as he sat and sipped his drink while the table buzzed with friendly conversation.

Hearing someone say his name brought him back to Earth.

“So then Harry,” Ron gasped through his laughter, “asks him if he and Umbridge are going steady, and Malfoy’s face goes all confused, right? Blighter didn’t even notice that Harry had turned his hair pink!”

The twins burst into laughter and Harry smiled before taking another sip of butterbeer. It had earned him a detention with Umbridge once she’d found out, but it had been worth it just for the look on Malfoy’s face.

“And _that_ , Harry,” said Fred, still laughing hysterically, “is why we love you!”

Harry choked on his butterbeer. Sirius hit him repeatedly on the back in worry. Once he could breathe again, he stared at Fred, uncomprehending of the words that had just come from the redhead’s mouth.

“Are you all right, Harry, dear?” asked Mrs. Weasley.

Harry tore his eyes from Fred and nodded. “I– I’m fine,” he said softly, and he cursed his voice for shaking. He stood up abruptly. “Sorry I– I should– I’ll just be a minute.” He turned to leave, but Sirius’ hand on his shoulder stopped him. He saw the alarm in his godfather’s face and lowered himself back into his chair.

“What was that all about?” asked Remus. “You’re all right, aren’t you, Harry?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Harry looked away, feeling his face grow hot. “It’s just, nobody’s ever said that to me before. It caught me off guard, that’s all.”

There was a heavy, uncomfortable silence. Mrs. Weasley stood and turned her back on them as she made her way to the sink and began washing dishes, the muggle way. Harry could see her shoulders shaking. He frowned and stood up, cautiously making his way towards her, trying to ignore the eyes he felt on his back. “Er… Mrs. Weasley?”

With his back on the rest of the room, he didn’t see Sirius drop his head in his hands or Ron and Hermione share a sad look. Fred just sat there, stunned. It had seemed like the right thing to say, because _of course_ they loved Harry. Harry was part of their family now, all the Weasleys knew this. Sirius and Remus considered him family too. Didn’t Harry know that they all loved him? Hadn’t they ever told him?

 _Nobody’s ever said that to me before_.

“Mrs. Weasley?” Harry asked again, his words filled with hesitation and uncertainty, and that was what put Molly Weasley over the edge.

She turned and threw her arms around him a hug. Harry stood there in shock, hot dishwater soaking through the back of his shirt. “We love you, Harry, do you hear me?” she said shakily as she clutched him to her.

Harry started once more at the unexpected words, as if he hadn’t expected to hear them again. Mrs. Weasley pulled away and Harry was amazed to see that her eyes were wet. She pat his cheek clumsily with a damp hand. “ _Of course_ we love you.”

Harry unconsciously took a step back and opened his mouth to respond, but nothing came out.

Sirius stood and moved swiftly over to his godson and placed his hands on his shoulders. “Oh, Harry…” he said, before pulling him into a hug as well. “We always have and we always will.”

Harry wiped at his eyes, horrified at the moisture he found there. He took a deep breath and held tightly onto Sirius. Mrs. Weasley’s hugs were always motherly, and wonderful, but this was different.

This was as if by a father.

Sirius pulled away, and Ron fidgeted in his discomfort. “You did _know_ this already, didn’t you?” he asked guiltily. “Surely you must have noticed–"

But then Harry was hugging him, and Hermione was there, and the twins, and Ginny. Sirius and Remus and Tonks. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.

Of course he’d known.

He’d always known.

It was just nice to hear it.


End file.
